Lost In Dreams
by Aquilla Moore
Summary: Alois is sick of Claude's disloyal bastardry. He brings his boot down hard on the spider demon, but a mind so relentlessly perverted is bound to retaliate… Hot mind games ensue. The question is, who dare crumble in the web of this sexual elysia?
1. Bloody Strawberries

**Lost In Dreams**

**After a crushed heart, Alois is sick of Claude's disloyal bastardry. He brings his boot down hard on the spider demon who wronged him so, but a mind so relentlessly perverted is bound to retaliate…**

**Out to teach the other a lesson in who rules their contract, devilish power struggles and wild mind games ensue. Their dirty tricks corrupt the Trancy Mansion into a psychological minefield in which no body is left un-disheveled. They want each other, but in what state? Dead? Alive? …Strapped down?**

**Take a ride on a rollercoaster, where reality becomes the transient foreplay of imagination, and tensions run deliciously deep. The question is; who dares crumble in the web of this sexual elysia?**

_**Writhe. Dominate. Whimper. Ravage. Beg. Destroy. Cry. Devour.**_** Yes. That is the way of the Trancy Household.**

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**Author's Note:** A warning, that sex scenes, fantasy and suspense are part of this wicked little story.

**Disclaimer:** Kuroshitsuji is the intellectual property of Yana Toboso.

**Rating:** T (elevated to M at certain times with warning)

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**Chapter 1 : Bloody Strawberries**

_The heart is restless. _

_I'm running to you. If only my feelings were know, but somehow you don't see them. You turn to go, and as I reach for you to call you back, I fall into this sudden abyss. The world turns from day into night, as you always say, as if by your own ignorance you've let me die. My heart beats as I cry out for you in the dark. It's so silent here…What do you always say? …'Salt into sugar'…_

"This is too sweet, Claude."

"Would Your Highness prefer something else?" Careless gold eyes gazed from behind sharp glasses.

Alois toyed with the miserable strawberry tart before him. He knew without seeing; the new dish would be just as uncomforting as this one. His butler just didn't put in the effort to please him, "No…I think I'm not in the mood for dessert, anyway."

On hearing this, Claude dropped his caring pretence and stared back into the distance, thinking unreadable, private thoughts.

His neglected master sat at a little round table with one lonely chair, a vase of yellow roses, and a spread of tea and miniature pastries. They were in the estate gardens surrounded by rose hedges and marble features, as today, Alois had requested lunch be held in the fresh air. It was as if the Trancy mansion had offended his senses.

The blonde youth rested with an elbow propped on the table, and cradled his head in his palm. The other hand directed a malignant fork that harassed the sweet slice of strawberry and creamy custard, relentlessly prodding and poking it until it was deformed far beyond its original presentation. The tormentor wedged out some pale red glaze on the surface of a fat strawberry, and held it up to the sunlight between the prongs of his weapon.

"Why are you so colourful? There's nothing to be happy about today. Such audacity," he sneered, and flicked the transparent gel away, smirking as it landed to stain the delicately crotched tablecloth. Nothing was satisfactory today.

Claude seemed to stiffen as he noticed the pink stain on the tablecloth he made himself. But Alois simply tussled his blonde hair and reclined lazily, kicking his heels atop the curved edge of the table. Under his disdain for high society's etiquette, he brewed with a private frustration. He had a need that remained persistently unfulfilled. The boy let his lidded eyes wander about the verdant landscape of the estate grounds, but they were soon transfixed by the only blurry shape out of place; his tall, dark butler who stood a stubborn blank pillar in the background of Alois' world. Always there, but never there. A deviant smile crept onto Alois' young face.

"Oh Claude, you look so…dull," his voice jumped forcefully to life, "Let's brighten you up a little!"

He speared a strawberry and bent back his fork by its prongs, creating enough tension to fling the innocent little fruit right into the face of the demon. It bounced quickly from Claude's cheek down the front of his tailcoat, as if in fear, and lay apologetically at his feet.

"_Your Highness_…" Claude's voice was measured, but underneath irritation was lingering. He seemed to despise impropriety of any kind.

Alois ignored this attitude in favour of his own, and laughed hard at Claude's stubborn frown, "I can't help it. I'm so damn bored."

"Your Highness rarely leaves the estate. Nothing else is to be expected," Claude threw fact to his master's emotion as he withdrew a napkin from his breast pocket to wipe his face clean.

Alois' face darkened and he turned away to brood. His voice lowered to a mutter, "I don't want to go out there. All there is are fools, laughing, gossiping. They don't understand me. Just talking about those bastards sickens me... And to think, I could live without ever leaving this place. Really, I won't ever need to. I have you to go out for me."

An uncertain moment passed between them.

Alois prompted hopefully, "Protect me from those idiots, Claude."

"Yes, Your Highness," Claude performed a cursory bow. Alois had been expected something more, and so this bland response only frustrated the teen further. His attention returned to his dessert, and he suddenly attacked another strawberry with his fork. As he crushed it, it went flat, its juices oozing shamelessly out of itself.

"…Idiots."

Beneath his shaded visage, Alois was blushing.

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**Note:** Ah, Alois is giving his feelings away. Don't! Next, he gets an unexpected visitor in the night. Dark things for a dark-minded child…

**If you felt bad for the lil' strawberries, review! This story is just warming up. **


	2. Sweets At Midnight

**Chapter 2 : Sweets At Midnight**

**(rating M warning)**

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_I'm reaching for you again It's dark now, but I know you're close to me again. I can smell your scent. I hear you move in the air. Your eyes must be watching me. Aren't they? Have you come to save me from this abyss? But maybe you haven't…I won't take the chance, I'm holding onto you! I have you now…wait! Don't leave! You're melting away from me, gliding further afar with you strange powers. I can't keep up with you. No no no, I need you! Stop! Don't you know how much I need you? Please wait for me! You're leaving even faster! No, I won't let go this time! I'm coming up there with you! Wait for me!_

The dark haze cleared as Alois stirred. His eyes were fluttering into consciousness, and above him the black world shifted uncertainly. Alois felt fantasy melt into reality. The scent and sound of his mind had followed him here. How strange a sensation, to experience a waking dream. He opened his eyes wide to absorb the pitch of night…and felt the hot breath of a bull roll onto his cheeks. He panicked.

"AHHHHHH!"

A hand quickly came over Alois' mouth to silence him, and his little lips felt the velvet smoothness of it. In the strange darkness as omnipresent as his dream, his heart was racing. Someone had got control of him. What was going to be done to him now? There was a solid presence above him, pressing into his frail body and sealing it between the sheets. He struggled uselessly against it.

"Your Highness, stay calm. It is I."

Alois muffled a cry of surprise at the sound of Claude's voice. _It was Claude_, bearing down on top of him! Now fully conscious, Alois felt that two strong arms were wrapped around his small frame, and a broad chest was resting lightly atop his own. He was being cradled in the arms of the demon.

_What was this?_

The setting must be his bedroom, but the air within felt unnaturally smooth and warm. It caressed his white skin and had him trembling. He had never felt such a powerful, tantilising sensation before. Alois felt the gloved hand carefully being removed from his lips. The pressure of Claude's large body carefully rose off the bed, as if he were creeping slyly away. The butler's voice was strangely lowered and cautious, reaching Alois from an increasing distance as he crossed the room, "Please relax, Your Highness. Go back to your peaceful thoughts and leave this place. Sometimes our mind takes us to corners we don't need to visit... I will leave your mind to help you dream freely. Please, Your Highness, go back to your restful state."

Claude's footsteps faded as he backed away through the gentle darkness, threatening to disappear once more. Alois rose up desperately and cried out as loud as he could, "No! Not again…I've found you! You can't go now! I order you not to leave me!"

His order was given just as he heard the imitation of a door handle being turned. The clicking of the lock paused and was released. It seemed the cry had stopped Claude dead in his tracks, because being in reality or dream, he could not disobey.

But with every new sound, Alois was more determined of his wakeful state. Yes, this was reality, in which Claude had just lain beside him and held him close. Alois had been hungry for this moment for so long that it struck him as impossible. He was eager and nervous, but the tenderness between them had been ruined the moment Claude had tried to escape. Alois tried to recapture that elusive feeling of his fantasy, "…Claude, come here by the bed."

Very reluctantly, Claude stepped back into Alois' reach. He was immediately grasped at. Alois stood tall on the bed, his feet sinking into the soft mattress and his legs still unsteady from sleep as pulled Claude closer by the collar. He clung to his butler, unsure of the world around him. He and Claude were face to face, though they could not see each other. Alois was wide-eyed, but the demon bore an uncharacteristically sullen expression. He had never wanted them to meet like this.

Claude's warm exhales rolled down onto his master's cheeks. Alois lingered there, unconsciously bringing their faces closer together until their noses were almost touching. If the sun in this reality had begun to rise, light through the cracks of the windows would have illuminated a truly happy smile on the teen's face, but there was no light, and Claude was none the wiser. Invisible tears rolled down Alois' cheeks before he even noticed them, and pattered softly into Claude's pure white shirt. Claude felt them, but remained silent.

"Don't leave me now," Alois whispered, "I can't believe I've got you after all this time."

Claude's voice was insistent, "This is not even happening, Your Highness. When you wake up you will find all of this to be a distant reality in the back of your mind."

Alois tugged at his butler's collar in defiance, "I don't believe it. You're real, and you're here for me. I won't let you go because now my dream has finally come true. Have you finally realised what I need from you, and come to me? Is that why you're here tonight?"

"This is not night time. It is just the dark we demons know so well. This is not your bedroom. It is just a quiet plane in which we have met. Once you wake, you will realise that all of this is a dream you created because you wanted it to be so."

"Repeat those words all you want, but they won't confuse me. You are my dream _and _you are real, understand?" Alois tore him forward and drove his lips into Claude's firm mouth.

Taken by surprise, Claude stifled a gasp in order to keep his mouth shut. Alois pressed deeper, trying to make his way in with his branded tongue, and Claude pursed his lips together in stubborn protest. But slowly, bit by bit, Alois' eagerness forced its way into Claude's mouth, and the moment it brushed wetly against his own large tongue, it sent the demon wild.

Alois squealed as he found himself being gripped around the waist by powerful hands, and was thrust down upon the side of the bed aggressively. Now his clothes were being clawed at, and a fistful of his hair had been seized. His legs kicked frantically at the demon's torso as he lay on his back, body being overcome. Now Claude was growling in frustration at Alois' steadfast nightgown. He tried to undo the buttons with ease like he had done every morning for months, but his greed made him fumble.

"This is…Rhhhaa!" Claude grunted, and he tore the nightgown apart by the shoulders. The slashed halves lay there like two white rose petals around the bud, his blonde and porcelain master. Claude stood against the bedside, tugging at his trousers, and felt Alois try to rise to meet him.

"Ah! You stay down..._Your Highness_," he mocked slyly as he pinned Alois down by the chest with one hand, and breathed to him in a dark whisper, "_You are going to get the royal treatment_."

Immobilised and wide-eyed, Alois gripped the sheets in anticipation, "Y-you've never been this way before."

"Fantasy to reality, misery to pleasure…something to something else, and now be silent."

Unable to conceal his haste, Claude tore off his coat and hurled it carelessly over his back. Moving freely now, he managed to undo his fly and hitched Alois' slender legs up around him. Trembling with excitement, Alois felt Claude press hard against him, but a groan of anger was let out as the demon felt yet another layer of cloth between them; Alois still had his underwear on. Claude fumed, and without warning a snap of the fingers brought on a bright glow that illuminated the two beings for a brief moment as it drove up over Alois' hips, tingling and hot, then all was dark again. The smoky scent of charred fabric wafted through the warm air.

His pants had just been incinerated to ash. Alois panted in fear, "How did you-"

"I told you, You Highness; this is a dream. Anything can happen. And now…"

Claude held back his masters thighs and lunged forward, causing Alois let out a helpless gasp as he was taken. The demon wasted no time in making his master twist and writhe beneath him. He was rough and relentless, but this only served to make Alois cry out louder. It was inevitable that his glasses loosen from his face. Alois tried to halt Claude when he felt the soft clink of metal and glass fall by his arm, "C-Claude! Your-glasses!"

But Claude was having none of it, "Leave-them!"

"You-don't-care?"

"I-don't-care!"

Alois' surprise quickly turned to delight, and he began to laugh uncontrollably as Claude continued thrusting into him without pause. It seemed even Claude became reckless in when passion overcame him. Alois blushed as he realised he was being put before Claude's concern for keeping a professional appearance. Defenses down and bodies on fire; even when they felt the fracturing of delicate glass beneath them, neither cared to stop.

They became more wild and disorderly. Claude's chest muscles were strained as he leaned over Alois, who was grasping blindly up at handfuls of loose shirt and locks of wavy hair to get some semblance of control as his body was rocked back and forth. Alois' legs were hitched for dear life around Claude, and his back lay across the bed. Both of them were with soft sweat, and panting hard in the heat; Claude was hissing between clenched teeth with the effort it took to not come with every lunge, an expression of fierce concentration etched across his sharp features. Underneath him, Alois was struggling frantically with his eyes closed, his body drifting into dizzy ecstasy. The sensations grew unbearably, until finally, their bodies tensed and shuddered, and they broke together. As the last wave of pleasure ran over them, Alois' high squeal was drowned out by Claude's tremor of a growl as he filled his master to the brim. After a moment in suspension, the demon let his body collapse, and he lay heavily atop his smaller master.

Alois enjoyed the sensation of his butler's reassuring frame that pinned and protected him, combined with the dizzying after-sensation of their intimacy. His head was swimming as they lay there without words, and soon the comforting warmth overtook him. His lids fell and his even, deep breathing caused his chest to press delicately into Claude's own.

The demon gently dove his hands under his master's fading body, and lifted him up off the side of the bed to lie him lengthwise so he could rest properly. He carefully tugged the sheets out from under Alois and brought them up to his neck, tucking them in around him to keep him warm. Claude slid onto the bed beside Alois' weakened frame, leaned on one elbow and wrapped his other arm around the teen's top half.

"My master," he whispered, savouring the private moment. He lay there silently in the strange darkness for hours.

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**Note:** I don't understand…I thought Claude was reserved? I thought he didn't want Alois? What's going on here? Something's up. Well, I hope you liked that M rated scene, the first of the many to come.

Next, Alois gets a rude wake up call when he finds out the truth of the matter. Huh? You'll see.…

**Rate the scene on steaminess, did it go just right? Tell me what you think. I'd like to know how people like it for future scenes to come.**


	3. Shock Awakening

**Chapter 3 : Shock Awakening**

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_'Night into day'…It's brighter now. I can see you. We're dancing under the moonlight. I take the rose out of your mouth with a playful nip, and you swing me around you. I am laughing, and the dance makes me dizzy. The rose is flung out of my mouth and goes dancing away off on its own into the shadows. You laugh. I am loving every moment of us. Everything is so different from before. 'Dead to living'…_

Smooth, drowsy sleep in which the body is kept continuously warm and the mind has experiences only peaceful dreams, is the best kind of rest for a human. This is the kind from which Alois Trancy awoke the next morning.

He curled from side to side under the bed sheets, pressing his face into his pillows and yawning lazily with his eyes still closed. Eventually he roused from his happy dozing. Pushing back his smooth hair, Alois sat up and stretched his arms above his head, smiling as he did so. Today was a good day.

But as he observed the room, he realised something was amiss, "…Claude?" Alois gasped, remembering why he was so happy. What they had done was…

"Incredible. I never expected him to…but where is he now? Butlers have a lot to do in the mornings. But I wish he had stayed here with me this once…Wait- how is this possible?" He felt his nightgown, perfectly sewn and hemmed together as it was before, with no visible stitch marks of repair.

"How strange -it looks the same as before. It can't be a different one. I don't have another nightdress just like this…but I can't even see where it was sewn back together. The skill of a demon is absolute. But he didn't have to bother…I don't mind going without," Alois giggled to himself. He felt underpants beneath his gown, but immediately dragged them off. Today it was better that way..

He lovingly stroked the bed sheets at the place he was sure they lay the night before. "Perfect, perfect," he whispered with a smile.

But something was strange about them. Clean, with relatively no creases or stains, they were _too _perfect. They were the same as when Alois first fell asleep in them. These can't have been the same sheets they struggled on top of only a few hours ago…

Kneeling on the bed, Alois shifted in confusion. It was then that he realised his body felt untouched. He had been through enough situations to know how he should feel like the morning after, yet the more he moved about the less he could identify with that feeling.

"What is this…?"

He turned sharply as the bedroom door clicked, and none other than Claude entered the room. All fear melted as he locked eyes with his butler and playfully ran across the room, "Claude! You should have stayed. One morning of no work isn't going to destroy the mansion. You should have stayed with me so we could get up together!"

Alois brimmed with joy as he looked up to Claude, but Claude's face was characteristically blank. Sheer duty demanded he answer his master, and so he uttered out, "I don't understand to what Your Highness is referring."

As Alois' smile was wiped flat, Claude carefully walked past and set the jug of fresh water on the washing stand as he did each and every morning. Alois watched him prepare the morning wash in dismay.

"It's unusual to see you wake at this early a time, Your Highness. You must have had restful sleep this once."

Alois ran up to the wash stand and leant beside Claude to see his occupied expression, "Claude, what are you saying? You know very well what happened last night. Why are you acting this way for?"

Claude remained focused, giving his master a cursory glance as he set out a bar of cream soap.

Alois endeavored coyly, "Ohhh, I see. You're shy! Just like all the other times I've been near you. You just won't talk because you don't like displaying your emotions. But, _in the dark_…"

"'In the dark', Your Highness?"

"Oh really, Claude! You're taking this pretence too far. For a demon, you're pretty self-conscious..._ohh, _come on now. Show me how you feel, like you did then," Alois encouraged with a seductive, lowered tone as he leaned in the bend of Claude's arm with both hands.

But Claude would not give in. Or, it seemed, he didn't recall the moments Alois was speaking of. Either way, as leaned near with a wet towel and cleaned the morning out of Alois' eyes, Claude remained unexcited by the close contact. With a pile of fresh clothes in hand, he followed Alois to the grand four-poster bed where he would dress his master. Alois suddenly leapt onto the sheets and let his body fall apart before Claude.

"You Highness…"

"Yeees?" Alois grinned on his back, knowing this display could not be ignored.

"…You're showing."

"That's the point. Come closer."

"This is highly irregular. I must be so bold as to ask you to please end this display."

"Truly? Or would you prefer_ this_?" Alois turned to lean on his hands and knees, and bent himself over before his butler. But even with his bare rump in full view, all it elicited from Claude was a blink of the eyes and a shift of the glasses from the bridge of his nose. He casually passed by to address Alois' front, "Maybe Your Highness is having difficulties this morning. But that is no excuse. Your Highness must learn how to be a gentleman if you wish to honor your attained status."

"You were no gentleman last night, Claude." Alois began to pout, "All the grunting, all the tough love. You were forceful…but I like that."

Alois' last words were a lusty whisper followed by a wink, at which Claude began to frown.

"If You Highness wishes to play games, then he may do so. But his butler will not be dragged into them. Now, please allow me to dress you for this day," Claude spoke firmly, and kneeled by the bedside after he set down the pile of clothes. Alois thumped his fists into the mattress as he lay horizontal, watching Claude unfold his shirt and hold it out for him. Momentarily placated, Alois sat upright with his legs dangling over the edge. Claude began pulling up the nightgown Alois was sure had been torn in half, and replaced it with the silken day-shirt. As he did up the buttons, Alois noticed it was performed without the slightest trace of the eagerness the demon exhibited the night before. _His act is truly something_, Alois thought.

After being fitted his green vest, dark ribbon, and purple overcoat, he acquiescingly lifted his pale legs in order for Claude to slide on his underwear and shorts, together. Noticing Claude left this for last, Alois rolled his head sideways and scoffed, "Hmm. Not even brave enough to touch my underpants today, are you?"

Claude continued in silence as he slid on a pair of black stockings. He then reached for Alois' favourite knee-high boots with purple ribbons.

"You can't keep this up forever, you know. It's not like I'm going to forget a thing like that."

Claude was lacing him up, his eyes carefully focused on the task. Alois stared down at him in growing frustration. He thought this helpless feeling would go away after what they had done, but in fact it made things all the worse.

He snapped in a boyish cry, "Why won't you answer me?"

Claude turned his gaze up slowly, like a dumb animal lifting its head from grazing. His voice droned, "There is nothing to reply you with, Your Highness."

"…Liar!" Alois exploded with a kick to Claude's face that sent the butler backwards. Alois leapt to his feet and shouted down at his servant, "I order you to tell me the truth! Recount what you did to me last night! Say it! I don't care even if the Triplets hear it! SAY THAT YOU FUCKED ME!"

The coarse and desperate words rang out across the room, echoing with shame. The truth was, the more Claude denied it, the more Alois came to terms with the ugly facts. There was no way he imagined last night, and yet…When he questioned its validity, it seemed a product of his imagination. The real sheets, real underwear, real nightgown, were all unaltered. Even Claude's glasses were in tact. And worst of all, even his own body wouldn't back him up. He felt nothing. It had been a long time since anyone had touched him, and he had never even gained pleasure from the encounters, but nevertheless the day after the encounter, an aftermath of sensation had always remained. But now, the one time he experienced pleasure, its reality eluded him. He began to panic once more.

Alois' lungs breathed hard while the rest of his frame stayed rigid; his arm was raised above Claude's head with his palm flat, ready to strike again, his legs were set wide apart, making him loom over Claude, who wore an irritatingly calm expression despite all. Even standing tall, Alois looked the helpless one of the two

Claude finally spoke, "_Last night I did not touch you, Your Highness_."

Claude rose and brushed himself off. Alois' heart sunk, but he tried vainly to grasp at hope, "Last night, you threw me down so hard you nearly squeezed the life out of me! You tore off my clothes! You grabbed my hair in your hands! You even burnt off my underwear!"

Claude followed these claims with bemused expressions.

"You told me you were going to give me the royal treatment…'Fantasy to reality, misery to pleasure', remember?"

"I'm afraid I would never say anything like that, You Highness. But I'm honored you chose me to fantasise over. This is more than any humble servant could ever expect," the butler put his hand over his heart and bowed solemnly.

"No, no! It was real! Stop lying to me…"

Nothing made sense. The reality he had discovered last night was quietly slipping away with each passing moment of doubt. Alois fought hard not to tremble. He had wanted Claude so badly…could he be rambling away his feelings to the pitiless ears of a demon without heed? _He was exposing himself_. He felt his cheeks flush red. What Claude must think of him…

Terror seized the boy, "But you're lying!"

The last thing he wanted was to be vulnerable to someone who didn't feel for him in the same intensity. The only hope he had left was to cling to the idea that what he dreamed was in fact reality. He lunged at Claude and began beating at his chest, tearing at his clothes and striking at his face, shrieking over and over, "LIAR! LIAR!"

Inside, mindless panic reigned, enabling Alois to continue without mercy or reason. He lashed out until Hannah came running in with the Triplets, and Claude ordered them to restrain their master for his own good. Timber and Cantebury took hold of Alois by an arm each, ignoring his endless struggles and curses.

"Hannah, escort our Master to the breakfast room and see that he eats well. I don't think he is in the mood for me today," Claude ordered calmly, straightening his uniform without even looking up. As he smoothed his cuffs Alois cried hysterically to him, "LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!"

"Yes, Claude," Hannah obeyed, though her features displayed concern for Alois above all else. She motioned for the Triplets to move on. On hearing no overriding order from their master, Timber and Cantebury simply dragged him out of the room on his heels. Alois kicked out at Thompson as he passed, and succeeded in booting him hard in the behind. Thompson simply rubbed his back and walked on without complaint. The Triplets and their arrested baggage drifted down the hall and out of sight. Through the walls, Hannah and Claude could hear the echoes of constant shouting. Hannah finally reached out with both hands and drew the bedroom doors shut.

Claude remained in the still room. He smoothed down his disgruntled hair and evened out his glasses. Exhaling simply, he murmured, "Fantasy or reality, Master. It's only what you wish to see."

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**Note: **And with the next chapter comes insanity...you'll see.

**Rate and review!  
**


	4. Twisted

**Chapter 4 : Twisted**

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_LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! LIAR! I'LL NEVER STOP HATING YOU! You let me express my feelings without being given any in return! I'll never forgive you! They way you spoke back there was disgraceful! I hate you! I'm burning with shame because of you! We will never be together now! I hate you! I want you to suffer! You're so stupid! You don't know anything! You think I'm dirt? Well I hate you! I hate you Alois! _

Hannah approached her master gently. He was seated at the breakfast table, muttering inaudible things under his breath. As she offered him assistance he glared into her deep blue eyes. That colour distantly reminded him of something else painful. He decided then and there that one day he would gouge those eyes out, just for staring at him this moment.

"…Master, please, tell me if there is anything I can do to ease your discomfort. You seem-"

Alois spat back, "_You_ seem like a whore who needs her mouth filled just so she can shut up."

Without a word, Hannah sadly bit her lip and stood back with the Triplets. Alois turned back to his breakfast and began toying with it just as abusively as he had his tea the previous afternoon.

He wished he had never been stupid enough to spill his heart out when all the signs for disaster were there. It was one thing to be flirtatious around Claude as a form of playful teasing, but another to pour his heart out honestly by begging for more affection. He would have to be at the end of his wits, truly desperate, for that to happen. The way he sounded back there in his room, how he hung trustingly on the demon's arm while those eyes gazed into nothing…it sicken him to remember.

Along with this embarrassment, in his own house, no less, came the stinging truth; Claude really didn't want him. There was absolutely no room for doubt now. No more excuses to tease the demon. He had been given the opportunity to approach his master and had repeatedly turned it down. Alois had wanted Claude for so long that he jumped his guns, and didn't allow Claude to make the first move like he should have. But now it was clear; Claude wasn't going to. Alois didn't know what hurt him more; his stupidity or Claude's clean-cut rejection. But really, Alois couldn't have even expected the demon to do anything else. It was no responsibility of Claude's to ensure Alois was emotionally fulfilled. Alois should have understood their contract better, but even at the start, he had hoped that…Well, it was all dead now.

"'Living to dead'…"

"Your Highness, did you say something?" Hannah ventured to wake him softly from his trance.

"Shut your mouth!" Alois shrieked and swung his arm across the table, sending the tablecloth and everything on it over the edge. It came crashing to the floor, and all four demon servants hurried forth to clean the mess. Alois simply sat back in his lone chair, curling his lip at them as they scrambled on their hands and knees below him, "You're all so useless."

And in his mansion he could not escape; he never needed to go anywhere and all he had to accompany his days were his demon servants. Now he had made things awkward with his butler, the only one worth his attention, and he had no where to hide from his blunder. Claude would go into his room every morning, as was his duty, but between them, in that silence of the early light, there would always remain the unspoken truth; Alois had confessed himself openly at a time like this. Every encounter would relive the ugly memory and burn shame into Alois until it created a scar he couldn't heal. Did anyone know the unyielding degradation he felt inside? He was a whore. Trancy had used him, Claude had stolen his heart, and the greatest crime against him was his own. He had betrayed himself.

And yet, some lingering desire made his stomach turn. Sensitive to the cause, his hands gripped the chair sides and clawed, and then he realized then; a part of him still fancied his dream to be real.

In his chair, he shuddered involuntarily from a tingle that flew up his spine and over his ribs. He dreaded the obsession he had fixated upon so intensely that it had now warped into his reality.

_Don't dwell there_, he thought, but he was drawn, mind melting into fantasy once more. Claude, touching him. Claude, grabbing a fistful of his hair like an animal, and exhaling hot breath into his cheeks. Claude, taking off his pants by the smoulder of rapid flame. Claude, making him weak and strong at the same time…

"It happened. Yes, I felt it all."

Despite his better judgement, the boy could not escape the darkness as it swept over his eyes and drowned him silently. He let it take him, and saw Claude again, beckoning him to venture deeper. He was running from Alois; letting him chase, piercing him with those cold, wicked eyes.

Hannah looked up to see Alois mumble, "C-Claude…" A dizzy expression came over her master's face as he slumped, unconscious in his chair.

"Your Highness!"

* * *

Claude strode alone down the servant's hall on the lowest floor level. On reaching his room he withdrew a key from his breast pocket and slid it into the lock. He entered the room and locked the door behind him. No one was allowed in here except himself. Every servant was allocated private quarters and Claude felt they should stay that way. Besides, he had some things he wanted to keep to himself.

Though simple compared to the grander rooms up above, his bedroom was decently furnished. In keeping with the mansion décor, the walls were covered with intricate wallpaper of gold and blue, and candle fixtures on every wall. Out of keeping with the mansion décor, were the dense netting of silvery spider webs framing every corner, wall and ceiling surface. The effect was such that the room seemed a circular cocoon rather than a square box. The light from the only window filtered through an inch of hatched cobwebs, and so the room was lit in a dappled dark gold sunlight, making it feel like some strange, gothic chapel. A vase of roses lay bright and bloody against the soft room, sinister and eternally young though they had remained long enough for small spiders to graffiti them with their artworks. Around the room was furniture in dark wood; a tall cupboard, a dresser and drawers, a few slender stands, and a bookshelf whose top half also served as a glass cabinet for a selection of nameless medicines. Claude had made all the furniture himself out of the same materials, but only after burning the old unpolished items of the room, that were made of random, poor-quality timber. In the middle of the room his double bed stood, framed by polished dark oak and covered with a thick red blanket of fine wool. Claude never slept here; for demons sleep was a luxury. But he liked the image of a smooth, made bed all the same.

At the foot of the bed rested a fat chest of brass and dark, worn wood. The demon went over to a webbed corner of the room and dug his hand carelessly into the silken webs, whilst tiny black and red spiders scattered. Feeling more than seeing, he withdrew a tiny silver key and a large brass one hidden within. He wiped them clean and stood by the glass cabinet bookshelf. After carefully inserting the tiny silver key into the cabinet's lock the glass swung open, and Claude dove his web-free hand into his pocket. He withdrew a rectangular glass bottle of some dark liquid concoction, and replaced it in the cabinet.

"Hopefully I've used enough of it for the numbness to be effective…"

Claude now approached the old chest. Towering above it, he bent to unlock it with the large brass key. As the chest's lock clicked he swung open its heavy lid with ease, and began rummaging into it with his long-reaching arms. Unsatisfied, he withdrew a hand and nipped the middle finger of the glove between his teeth, then slowly drew the glove off and spat it away. With his bare hand he dug through cloth until he felt the texture he was looking for.

Seizing his prizes, Claude held up at arm's length two halves of a pale cream nightgown, one in each hand. He rotated one of his forearms towards him, so that a piece of the nightgown rested down his inner forearm. Claude brought his face closer to scent it. Nuzzling his nose into the soft fabric, he whispered something inaudible.

As he stood distracted, below him a large curtain of crumpled bed sheet spilled daringly out the chest's side, like evidence of foul play. There were also left over cuts of pale cream fabric resting in the sheet's folds, a set of loose needles and white thread, and what looked like chalk-marked paper templates of sleeves; a chest front and back. It seemed Claude was good at crafts.

The demon's smile was disturbing as he withdrew from his infatuation with the shredded nightgown's scent, "Impure, and yet so sweet. Oh, how I wish I could keep you, but a spider demon cannot risk anything at a time like this."

In blinding movement, he aligned the two halves and proceeded to tear them relentlessly into thousands of tiny squares in his hands, like a human shredding machine. The pieces fluttered down around his feet, as if they were tiny white butterflies. Within seconds all existence of the nightgown was destroyed. He seized the bed sheet, planning to do the same to it.

"Last night I did not touch you, Your Highness... I completely defiled you. And it was better than anything that old Earl of Trancy ever did to you."

* * *

**Notes: **Oh, were you expecting that? Next comes a sweet edition. Alois has a surprise guest, but you'll never guess who! Be sure to bring your table manners, and a nice day frock.

**Don't be shy. Please rate and review! **


	5. Petit Fours

**CHAPTER 5 : Petit Fours**

* * *

_You've made it clear I don't belong with you…_

…_So do I belong under you? On top of you? Behind you? Around your neck? Between your legs? Spread over your body? Bent over your lap? Pinned beneath your chest? I imagine it in all ways. The possibilities are endless. I see now; it is hopeless to let go of you. I give in to despair over and over again, knowing before and after that I can never have you. Yet I have no choice but to love you; despicably, completely, pathetically. _

Alois lay on his huge four-poster bed, staring up at the ornately carved decorations that made up its ceiling. He had been awake for hours already, lost in his daydreaming. He turned his dazed head towards the window, and judged by the incoming light that it was almost midday. As the sun hit his sky blue eyes, he cringed them shut and stubbornly twisted his body away.

"Today cannot start. It's impossible for me to face him ever again," Alois muttered into his pillow determinedly.

But he was fighting a losing battle; any moment now, Claude would come through his bedroom doors, just as he had everyday since the first morning after their contract had begun. In fact, it was a wonder the butler had not arrived hours ago…

Alois flung himself up from the warm comfort of his blankets and gasped, "What if he's up and left me?"

Wild panic threatened to seize him, but as his wide eyes darted around the room he spied the tell-tale signs of Claude's daily presence.

"No…the water stand and my clothes have been set out in exactly the way he always does them," his voice sighed as he calmed, "…Oh…."

It seemed Claude had come before schedule and left everything to Alois to handle for the very first time. Alois wondered nervously what this meant. Was Claude going to avoid dressing his master from now on?

"He can't do that. I'll make him return to me. He can't disobey an order. But…do I want him that close? ...That bastard will drive me insane with his blank stares!"

Yesterday was terrible, but it seemed today might be just as difficult for Alois. Never before had Claude failed to show up for him in the mornings. It was an unspoken duty that even simple human butlers performed without faltering. For a demon contracted to a soul to ignore this requirement was absolutely disgraceful. Was it an act bourn of defiance, or of the wish to not cause another argument?

But Alois' thoughts did not stop there. The more he contemplated Hannah being the one who prepared his room this morning, and she telling him that Claude had left at dawn and by now had most likely traveled miles away, the more Alois fidgeted in unease. Inevitably, he felt the urge to abandon his anti-butler post to venture into the mansion. Even if that meant he had to put his own clothes on.

"Now…let's see…shirt is first…" Alois inspected the neatly folded pile of garments resting on a wooden stand in the corner. He made short work of the pile, withdrawing a silken ivory shirt with long sleeves, buttoned down the front. There was a black pair of his favourite type of shorts (he liked to call them booty shorts, which always made Claude give a look of discomfort), and a blue vest a few shades deeper than his eye colour. He slid on a mutely-toned burgundy frock coat along with his customary black stockings that rested up to his thighs, but when it came to tying the ribbons, he met his match. Both his knee-high boots and black neck ribbon mocked him as he struggled vainly to perfect their presentation in the mirror.

"Why won't you go straight? Honestly..."

He sat on the edge of his bed and stretched one leg up against a post. He steadied his heel and reached up to secure the ribbon, but the glossy thread were so slippery that he resorted to leaning forward and biting the ends between his teeth as to hold them in place.

Truly, Alois had no clue.

He was used to dressing himself in simpler clothes, but it seemed Claude liked to make things complicated for him. Alois saw the fussy little knots his butler tied within moments, and how pleasingly well the bows had formed between his dexterous gloved hands. Their ends were at perfectly even lengths, down to the millimeter, and the wings of the bows were fat and nicely ridged at their centers. Alois' uneven, lumpy bows were nothing like Claude's.

Disgruntled, he tossed the black neck ribbon aside and yanked at the front of his ivory shirt, so that his creamy white skin peeped from behind the unbuttoned front. He smiled slyly. As for the matching burgundy ribbons on his boots, Alois settled for them resting lopsidedly below his kneecaps, and neatened his hair briefly with a large silver hairbrush.

Finally ready, and slightly disheveled, Alois cautiously opened the double doors of his room. Except that they wouldn't budge. He was so used to Claude doing everything for him, that he didn't even know how firmly the door handles had to be turned. Muttering darkly, he wrenched the doors roughly open. But instantly, he regretted announcing his presence with so much noise, lest he attract a certain demon's attention. Alois wasn't ready for it yet.

"…Why am I… Oh, don't be such a fool!" Alois chided his nerves, and at that moment his stomach rumbled. He had missed breakfast, and dinner besides from yesterday. He had been to shy to have Claude serve him anything.

With a determined air about him, Alois strode down the corridor and down a flight of wide marble steps, and found his way to his private dining room all on his own. On bursting into the large blue room, the Triplets looked up from their work; they seemed to be repairing the deep dent he'd made in the cherry hardwood floors after Hannah awoke him from his daydream, and he kicked out harshly with his boots.

_Who was she to intervene? She was mocking me with her calm façade… trying to destroy my only moments with Claude, as if she were doing me a kindness. Bitch. _

"Don't tell me it took you three this long, and you still haven't fixed that tiny scratch? This is truly laughable," he fixed the Triplets with a cruel smile, "The three of you aren't worth even half of Cl-…Get a move on, damn you!"

They stared at him for one uncomfortable moment, then exchanged a quick, knowing glance and got back to their task. Alois curled his lip in irritation as he watched them. It seemed all his servants had turned on him in one way or another.

"Hannah!" he cried, and in moments the demoness bowed her master a greeting in the doorway. He turned away from her coldly, speaking over his shoulder, "Bring me lunch."

Hannah was hesitant to reply. Both she and Alois were thinking the same thing; this was something Claude usually did. For the first time, Alois was depending on her instead, and to Hannah this was an honor. A small smile crept onto her lips, "…Yes, Your Highness."

Alois made himself comfortable on a lounge at the side of the room. He kicked up his heels onto one arm of the lounge and laid his head down on a seat, and stretched his arms back over his head to touch the other arm of the lounge. After ten short minutes Hannah returned with a cart laden with goodies. Alois observed her re-enter the room with skepticism, like a spoilt cat glaring half-heartedly at its human. He slothfully rose from his back to approach the table she was setting for him. As he stood he motioned to her to back down, and so she bowed and kneeled, waiting for his judgement.

"Let's see if you're any good at cooking…" he ran a cursory glance over the spread before him, "What do we have here? Sandwiches? They're the best you could come up with?"

"And petit fours, You Highness," Hannah replied meekly. She would try to appease him, if only to gain less of his usual hatred.

Upon the table was a large selection of miniature, finely-cut rectangle sandwiches, with numerous combinations, including; cucumber, lettuce and tarragon butter, honeyed ham, watercress and cheddar cheese, roast beef, mint and Dijon mustard, cold chicken, sliced pecan and avocado, smoked salmon, dill, capers and cream cheese, sweet crab meat, mayonnaise, pepper and lemon; these delectable fillings were jammed between soft, snowy-white slices of bread. Crusts off, of course, and each ingredient cut to even perfection.

Alois seized one and rudely thumbed through it, exposing the delicate fillings within, "I doubt I can stomach anything made by your dirty hands."

"Please, Your Highness, for you my cleanliness standards are of the highest level. I have also prepared you two types of tea: Darjeeling and Jasmine."

"Jasmine? I don't consume flowers."

"It's delicately sweet and fragrant, you might enjoy it…if you try it…" she trailed off, hoping she hadn't pushed her moody young master too far.

A tense moment passed between them. The fact was, Claude had wounded Alois and left his side this morning. The young teen felt discarded and lonelier than he cared to acknowledge. And he was also afraid. He hated Hannah even more than he ordinarily hated demons, but at the moment his loathing towards Claude was king. He wasn't sure how much he needed some semblance of warm company, and whether that could override his eternal repulsion towards her.

Instinctively Alois raised an arm, and Hannah waited without flinching for the slap that was to come. He brought it down with a startling shout, but as it neared her face, he slowed his hand and cupped her cheek in his palm. It was an eerily gentle act; not something Alois was prone to. Tilting her smooth visage to peer up at her master, a cold smile formed on his lips.

Alois used his eyes to motion towards the food she had prepared, "I think this will do. Just don't you ever think you can take Claude's place. Understand?"

"Absolutely, Your Highness," she whispered, and Alois released her carelessly. Without word, he took to his chair and she rose to tuck him in.

Two ornate teapots housed the Darjeeling and Jasmine tea. Both were infused with floral essences, and had light body and colouring. Hannah selected the Jasmine tea for Alois and began pouring it out into her master's cup, hands steady and nimble. The pool of transparent gold liquid steamed up to Alois, surrounding him with a gentle luring sweetness. It reminded him of something else familiar, promising, and unfathomable.

"…Where is _Claude_?" he asked, a hint of danger sharpening the end of his tone.

Hannah settled the teapot onto its stand with a slight falter, "Claude has left on a mission of great importance, Your Highness."

"What? Where is he?" Alois' cold façade crumbled away as he automatically slapped his hands down on the tablecloth.

"He has gone to spy on the Phantomhive mansion. He left this morning after preparing Your Highness' room. He said you had expressed a wish to be alone when he attempted to wake you, and so explained we were not to disturb you unless you called for us. I didn't expect Your Highness to dress without aid."

"I don't remember saying anything to him…" Alois muttered doubtfully. He snapped, "Never mind. When will he be back?"

"'By dusk', he said. He is taking in visual information on the target of your contract, 'Ciel Phantomhive'. Of course, you may call him back sooner if you so wish-"

"No. I'd rather leave him where he is…to further us along our goals," Alois enforced his false reasoning, "That is a part of his contract, after all."

"Contact…it is strange that while some obligations require one to remain beside one's master, others demand one remain at a distance…"

Alois simply frowned at this; he didn't care for Hannah's mindless chatter. Turning his focus towards the mighty spread of sweets and sandwiches, an idea struck him.

"Sit, Hannah," he motioned to the opposite side of the table.

Hannah blushed, "Maids cannot dine with their masters, You Highness."

"I said _sit_. You will eat what I will eat. And if it tastes like total crap, we'll only have you to blame. _Sit_," Alois again directed her with his hand. A stubborn frown now overhung his sky blue eyes.

She obediently pulled up a second chair and sat quietly with her head bowed. Alois stared at her from across the table, bemused but without true malice, "Is this how you plan to entertain your master? Honestly, it was more interesting when I beat you."

Hannah's lips trembled, "If that is what would please my master…"

Perhaps I should scald you with hot tea?" Alois smiled and reached towards a teapot handle casually, "Ah, but that would ruin everything here, and I am very hungry. Well then, maybe later."

He began helping himself to a small salmon and dill sandwich, and was silently pleased with the taste he discovered. Using slender sliver tongs, Alois selected glazed thin slices of orange and pink grapefruit that were layered alternatively in a circular pattern on a plate, like segments of bright crystals. Hannah remained still and silent.

"Hannah," Alois insisted, this time in an _almost_ friendly manner, "Take something, will you? I can't eat all this by myself."

As her master continued sampling the spread, Hannah struggled internally. Servants were never to eat beside their masters. Why was hers insisting upon it when he hated her so? But servants, above all, must _never_ neglect a direct order from their master. And so, carefully she selected a spare plate, cup and saucer from the serving cart and prepared herself to feast.

The Triplets had finished work, but were hanging in the background just to see what Alois would do to Hannah. And now they were fixated by the scene of maid and master dining together, almost pleasantly. This was not their usual Alois Trancy. But, what was usual in Alois to begin with? They watched curiously as Hannah selected a miniature sandwich.

"What's in these?" Alois prodded the silver tongs at the cake stand of petit fours.

"Silky vanilla sponge cake and a layer of strawberry jam. I have noticed your partiality for strawberries."

"Hmm."

Well, Alois did like his strawberries. He chose a square petit four covered in blue icing adorned with a white edible bow, and took a bite at the edge of the gift box look-alike. It was delicious. Not willing to praise Hannah in the slightest, he set aside the blue petit four for a heart-shaped pink one with the decoration of a red heart on top. It too, was delicious. Alois reached lustily for a third, it being round, white and tall, casually lashed with lines of hard chocolate sauce and featuring a tiny handmade strawberry resting cutely in its centre. He took nips of one of each style on the cake stand, of which there were several. Each style of petit four Hannah had made was different from the last in flavour and design, but was each equally as satisfying. He could stand to eat these more often.

"I wonder why Claude never makes these? They're so sweet."

Hannah thought it best not to answer, and so offered something else in the way of conversation, "I am very happy that Your Highness finds them satisfactory to his tastes."

Alois stole a glance from over the fat vase of camellias in the middle of the table to glare at her.

_Damn you. Don't try to suck up to me. Demons and demonesses alike. All are liars and traitors._

Even though on one level he was beginning to enjoy himself, too much had scarred Alois to ever let his guard down. And the fiasco with Claude yesterday was enough to make him never forget that. He watched his maid carefully, his caution masked by a cold gaze. The Triplets watched anxiously at the sight. But Hannah seemed content in enjoying what little pleasure he had allowed her. She bit into the corner of a yellow petit four with a small purple rose and savoured its lavender aroma.

Deeming her no current threat, Alois reclined lazily and let out a soft sigh. It didn't matter that Hannah looked up at this moment; he could pretend he was being bored. He took a small sip at his tea, and quickly returned for a longer taste, as the aroma filled the back of his throat warmly and soothingly.

Hannah looked back down to the spread, and, boldly, she felt, took a honeyed ham sandwich and a little Darjeeling tea for herself. The master heard her movements but was swirling the golden liquid of his teacup absentmindedly. He did not seem to mind, and so she continued sampling her fare. Timber, the middle triplet, caught her eye from behind Alois, and she returned it with a small smile. Alois started up from his reverie and caught her line of sight. He abruptly twisted around and laid an arm across the back of his chair to face the Triplets.

"Oh, and what do you three want?"

They lowered their heads silently, knowing they could not please their master even if they tried. Or, was it that when they tried he grew angry? No one could tell with Alois.

"I guess you fools are hungry too, huh? …Get over here." After that strange demand, Alois turned his back to them without a care, and began munching on the end of a roast beef and watercress miniature.

The Triplets hung in the background whispering to each other, not sure what was to become of them. Hannah forced herself not to form the expression of surprise she felt within, and beckoned the Triplets with her eyes to approach. They came quickly and bowed before their master.

Alois didn't bother turning to face them, "Sit where you are. That's right, cross your legs. All good dogs must sit when they are told."

The Triplets sat on the hardwood floor of dark cherry and waited, hoping dearly that they would not be bathed in boiling hot Darjeeling.

Alois selected a petit four with the tongs, a caramel-coloured one adorned with a cream-coloured butterfly, and held it above the heads of the Triplets, as if they were animals waiting for a feed, "…Hannah, which one is Cantebury? I can never tell."

"Cantebury is Your Highness' servant with a fringe on the left side of his face," Hannah explained politely.

A lover of entertainment, Alois began to grin cheerfully, "Get ready to catch this. Oh, and don't you dare use your hands."

Cantebury blinked and exchanged a look with his brothers, but obediently rose to snap the petit four butterfly into his mouth as it was tossed to him. Alois giggled at the sight.

"Yes, that's it! You too, Timber, Thompson. You all get one," Alois tossed one to them in turn, "And where would we be without sandwiches?"

The Triplets turned to each other in attempt to form a suitable answer.

"Ugh…_No where._ So, here!" the boy threw a miniature sandwich at the middle brother's face obnoxiously, but Timber seemed not to mind. It bounced off his nose, but he caught it before it reached the ground and began to chew at the leafy lettuce and cucumber within.

Alois laughed louder and sent two sandwiches carelessly at Thompson and Cantebury, who followed their brother's lead. And with that, all in the room were contentedly feasting in a pleasant silence. Alois sat amongst the demons he despised, for the moment without passion, and took another sip of his jasmine tea. He no longer harbored the desire to scald them all half to death with a teapot this afternoon, and that was good enough for him. Hannah passed Alois a style of petit four he hadn't tried, and the Triplets rose up to the table to sneak more sandwiches.

What a strange sight it was.

* * *

**Note: **When Alois threatened to scald Hannah with hot tea, I was reminded of YuGiOh! The Abridged Series, when Bakura was sending up the Dark Knight moive with his "Why so Brittish" line. Look it up if you don't know what I mean. Alright, Claude returns next chapter, and Alois is overjoyed...but he can't erase the awkwardness between them. Claude pretends nothing has happened, but he begins a game that Alois is helpless to put an end to...this is going to get scary.

**Rate and review! See you next time!**


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